The Clearing Sky
by Calirie Halanwe
Summary: A series of drabbles set post book 7, serious spoilers within. Ch 9 up. A look at someone who lost something in the war, and yet didn't. Tearjerker ahead!
1. Chapter 1: Bad Dreams

Disclaimer: It isn't mine sniff, only the scenarios are mine. Hope you enjoy! Please review if you like it/have concrit/would like to see a certain scene etc! Thanks!

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'Daddy?'

Harry Potter was shaken from his reverie by his daughters' voice. 'Yes, sweetheart?'

The little red-headed girl came and climbed onto his lap, cuddly white owl firmly in her grasp. 'I had a bad dream.' She whispered as she cuddled into his chest.

Harry wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. It was times like this he found himself surprised by little things, such as how small she was, being only six, and how small she sounded, despite her usual boisterous demeanour which reminded him so much of her mother.

'About?' He asked softly, placing a kiss on top of her head.

'A giant spider was trying to get in through my window and I tried to get out of bed but the floor was covered in baby spiders.' She whispered, looking up at him with big, tear filled eyes.

Harry smiled. 'There are no spiders in your bedroom, darling, and no giant ones outside either, dreams are only dreams, they can't hurt you.' He smiled ruefully as he remembered the dreams he had been plagued with in his youth. Abandoning the warmth of the living room with its open fireplace, he hoisted his daughter onto his hip and began carrying her back to her room. 'I'll check anyway just to be sure, and I'll even put up some protective charms around your room so nothing bad can get in, ok?'

She smiled and nodded, letting her head rest on his shoulder, her little hand grasping the collar of his shirt. He gave her a squeeze to reassure her.

Inside the room he placed her on her bed where she squirmed under the covers as he pretended to check every possible spider-hideout in the room, he then went over to the window, made a show of looking out with a serious expression on his face, then placed a basic shield charm over the window. He returned to her bedside with a smile and tucked his wand back into his pocket.

'There you go, Love. No spiders in here, no spiders out there, and no way for anything to get in now.' He kissed her cheek as she snuggled into her pillow with a smile.

'Thanks, Daddy.'

He was about to rise when her little hand took hold of his sleeve. 'Daddy, is it true you and Uncle Ron fought giant spiders at Hogwarts?'

_Ah_. He thought. He had been asked to recount this tale again by her brothers just the other day and obviously they couldn't help telling her, no doubt with much exaggeration and frightening descriptions.

'Yes, Lily but that was a long time ago and Hogwarts is very far away from here, besides, I'm pretty sure there are no giant spiders left now.' It wasn't really a lie, he told himself. The spiders hadn't been seen for years and besides, her look of mingled relief and wonder was worth a little white lie.

'Night, Darling.'

'Night, Daddy.'

With one last kiss to her forehead Harry stood, pulling the door too until it let in only a little light, and returned to the living room.

When he entered his wife was waiting for him, brushing ash off of her robes as the flames in the fireplace turned from green back to orange.

'Ginny, how's it all going at the Burrow?' He asked smiling, giving her a lingering kiss.

'Mums been waffling on about everything and nothing all this time, I told her I would be leaving at ten thirty! Half past eleven it is now! Honestly, she's so excited about having a big old family reunion now that Charlie is back in the country.'

Harry laughed, letting her excited words wash over him as they sat together, arms around each other, watching the crackling firewood.

After conversation had died down a bit Ginny suggested they go to bed, Harry agreed, standing, then turned to his wife.

'Oh could you remind me to give James and Albus some particularly boring chores tomorrow?' He smiled to himself as they headed to their bedroom, Ginny looking puzzled behind him.


	2. Chapter 2: Panic

Harry Potter was panicking. He couldn't hear anything from within the room and that just made him panic all the more.

'Calm down, Harry.' Hermione said soothingly.

'Why don't you take a seat, mate?' Ron watched him pace up and down with a nervous expression.

'Harry, I promise you everything will be fine, Ginny is a strong woman, like her mother.' Mr Weasley added his calming voice to the mix. Harry paced faster, his breathing eratic.

'But it's been thirty-two hours!' His own voice sounded slightly alien to him, high and strained.

The door opened and immediately the corridor was full of a tense excitement, everyone was standing now, looking anxiously at Mrs Weasly who had just emerged.

She beamed through tears and hugged Harry tightly. 'It's a boy!' Cheering erupted. Ron was jumping up and down wildly whilst Hermione tried to stop laughing long enough to stop him. Mr and Mrs Weasley were hugging each other, matching expressions of joy on their faces.

Harry blinked up at all this from the floor, when had he sat down?

Mr Weasley helped him up and pushed him towards the door, still laughing. 'Go on, Harry. Go meet your son. What was it you were going to call him?'

'James.' Harry whispered when he could find his voice. He was looking at Ginny from the doorway now. She looked exhausted but delighted, and a small bundle in her arms was wriggling within a blue blanket. 'My son, James.' Harry whispered and with a grin, he entered the room to set eyes for the first time on his newborn child.


	3. Chapter 3: Reminiscence

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter.

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'It's a nice day, isn't it?' Hermione sighed. She had taken off her sandals and was letting the long grass tickle her toes.

'Hmm.' Came Rons reply from where he was lying on one side of her.

On her other side Harry sat with his elbows on his knees, contemplating the slightly lopsided building that was the Burrow below the hill on which they sat.

He thought of little Teddy, running around the house and babbling away cheerily being raised by his grandmother, knowing his parents only through photographs and stories.

He thought of George, successful, happy. Visited Fred every weekend, sometimes alone, sometimes with his family.

He thought of Dobby, poor, brave Dobby, and of Mad-Eye, and of Colin Creevey and, though he felt slightly foolish to admit it, Hedwig, his owl. Every death, every injury crossed his mind every year on this one day, as it did every day. But today he was allowed to dwell on it, to stop and actually think of all that was lost, all that was won.

'I can't believe it's been four years already.' Hermione said quietly. There was no reply for a long time.

'I can't believe I'm married.' Harry grinned at his friends. Ron snorted.

'Yeh, to my sister no less. And I'll be married soon. Bloody Hell.'

'Thanks, Ron. I feel loved.' Hermione poked him in the side, trying to suppress a smile.

'Y'know I didn't mean it like that, Hermione. It's just, well… Think about it… we're only twenty-one.'

'My parents got married at nineteen, so did yours didn't they?' Harry grinned.

'You're right though.' Hermione cut across Ron before he could retort. 'It would feel like we were doing this too early; if we'd had a normal childhood.'

Harry felt a twinge of guilt somewhere in his gut.

'Yeh.' Ron sighed. ''Spose not many people are fighting wars at age seventeen though, huh?'

There was another silence. Hermione opened her mouth as though to argue the point, but seemed to think better of it, for now.

Harry smiled ruefully. 'Look at it this way; our kids are going to have safe, happy, normal childhoods.'

There was a pause as each of the three blushed, stuttered or cleared their throats. 'Ok, well, maybe we are too young to be having children just yet, marriage is one thing, but a family is something else entirely.' Hermione laughed nervously.

'Oh thank Merlin!' Ron fell back onto the grass with a relieved sigh.

'What's _that_ supposed to mean?'

Harry laughed as he watched his friends bicker. Some things never changed.

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I just want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed this so far, It was originally just going to be the first chapter as a stand alone one-shot, but thanks to your positive comments I decided to keep it going and see where the plot bunnies take me and what it turns into, so thanks and this is all for you guys!

Calirie. xxx


	4. Chapter 4: Nana

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

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'Nana? Nana?' Mrs Weasley shook herself as a little voice called her from her thoughts. She looked down into blue eyes framed by dark strawberry blond hair.

'Yes, Fredric?' She smiled at her grandson.

'You look really confused.' He stated, blinking up at her, one little hand clutching her apron pocket.

She laughed. 'No, no dear, not confused, just thinking. Are you alright? You're done playing outside?'

He nodded, already his hair was getting a bit too long, she noted. 'Right well that's good timing, dinner looks about ready. Be a dear and go and get your grandfather in the shed, Merlin only knows what he's tinkering with now.'

Fred giggled and ran out of the kitchen, a skip in his step. Mrs Weasley smiled as she watched him go. He was a perfect mix of both his mother and father, but sometimes, just sometimes, she could swear saw his uncle in him.

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Sorry this is so short and thanks for the continuing support, I promise the next update is only a day or two away to make up for the shortness! Ta!


	5. Chapter 5: What Matters

Disclaimer: See 1st Chapter.

Thought I'd try something different for this one, still ended up fluffly though heh.

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The room was cold.

He didn't care much though, he was lost in thought. Staring out of the tall window at the large, tidy garden beyond, not actually seeing any of it.

Draco Malfoy let his hands droop over the sides of his chair, his glass of wine ignored on the little, but obviously expensive side table.

He thought about lots of things, and nothing, and then lots of things again. He sighed.

Thinking back he could scarcely believe that frightened, brainwashed utterly pathetic youth had been him. When he thought it over fully, he found himself shaking his head over his parents utter recklessness, their single-minded betrayal of everything they had previously claimed to believe in.

He wondered what might have happened if things had gone differently. If he had never hesitated. If he had never interfered with Crabbe. If he had never lost his wand…

If…

It didn't matter anymore.

He no longer felt that sickening hate when he heard the name Potter. That hate born of years of indoctrination, that hate he had had trouble understanding even when he had been at school, face to face with everything he was not…

He no longer sneered when he thought of the Mudblo – Muggleborns he knew. He no longer cared.

Because it just didn't matter anymore.

What mattered was the grudging respect that had grown within him for a man his age who had had more courage than he could fathom before he even knew it. What mattered was that people were _happy_ now. Not scared. Not divided; there would always be old beliefs and old values, but they didn't result in blood and hate and feuds. Because it was all over and things had never been so peaceful in Draco Malfoys' life. He could decide what he wanted and believe what he wanted. That's what _mattered_.

He slipped out of the chair and left the room, the wine, window and garden forgotten. Slowly making his way down the hallway he sighed, briefly closing his eyes as the weariness from a long day set in.

As he pushed the nursery door open his wife looked up, smiling. His son was happily feeding as she hummed quietly.

He crossed over to them in a few easy strides and squeezed her shoulder, leaning down to rest his cheek against the top of her head and her soft, sweet smelling hair.

Without moving from his position he let his eyes wander to the window, this time to actually take in the garden outside.

A small smile graced his lips. This was all that mattered.

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As always thanks to my lovely reviewers. Any requests just drop me a review!


	6. Chapter 6: Quidditch is Dangerous!

Disclaimer: Same as first yadda yadda.

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'That's it, James! Go for it!' Shouted Harry.

A red blur whizzed by, followed closely by a blue one yelling, 'You won't beat me, Potter!'

Harry and Ginny laughed loudly as the blurs continued to whiz around the Weasleys' homemade Quidditch pitch.

'Go for it, Teddy!' Shouted George.

'Traitor!' Laughed Ginny.

The two in the air had been locked in a race for the snitch for almost two full minutes, each narrowly missing it several times. The other players, (Albus, Rose and Bills sons Fred and Jean-Luc) all of which found it impossible to keep up with Teddy and James, were now hovering above the ground watching the race.

Suddenly the two made a sharp turn in mid air, Teddy made a snatching movement and gave a cry of triumph, his hair turning from blue to bright gold.

James however, being much younger, and with less strength, found the turn a little two tight, flipped over in mid air and lost his grip on his broom. He gave a short, startled cry before falling the fifteen feet to the ground and landing with an audible thud.

Ginny gave a cry and the rest of the crowd went silent or made exclamations. Within seconds Ginny and Harry were at his side, as was Teddy, a concerned and somewhat sheepish look on his face.

There was tense silence and worried looks exchanged for a moment as Ginny and Harry roused James, asking if were alright and checking for injuries. 'Ow!'

Hermione jumped and Teddy winced. Harry turned to Mrs Weasley as Ginny hugged James. 'His arm is broken, we'll have to take him to St. Mungos.'

'Oh, Harry, I-I'm sorry.' Stuttered Teddy.

Harry laughed gently. 'It wasn't your fault Ted, don't worry about it.' Teddy hesitantly returned his smile.

As the other youngsters crowded round there were shouts of 'Is he alright?', 'Is he dead?', 'Did he break something?', 'Can I see?' until Bill ushered them away.

'That was wicked!'

There was silence for a moment as Ginny stared in horror at her son. 'But you broke your arm!'

'Yeh, but it was still pretty cool! I was like Woah! Then it was like Ahhh! And then Wham!! That was so cool hahahaha.'

Ginny stared at him before looking incredulously at her husband, Harry just grinned at her and shook his head.

'C'mon Sis, you gotta admit, it was pretty cool.'

Ginny glared at Ron until his ears turned pink.

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As always thanks to those who take the time to review, your comments are appreciated. I am working on some suggestion i've recieved to do with Teddy, George, Harry and Ginny, and one I particularly like between Ron and Hermione. The next update won't be for at least another week though due to real life interferance. And if anyone was wondering, in this Chap I was imagining James to be about ten, Teddy about seventeen, Bills sons to be about thirteen and nine (my own interpretation, there will be a chap about them eventually) and of course that would make Albus and Rose about eight. Hope you all enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7: Walking on eggshells!

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

A/N: I am so, so sorry this took so long to get out, real life decided to cause major disturbances and I've only just been able to get things back to normal. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

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'What? So I'm a whale? Is that it?'

The screech reached Harry and Ginnys ears before they even crossed the threshold. They paused for a moment outside the open back door, exchanging an amused glance as they recognised Rons voice trying to stutter a reply.

'You're not a whale! I didn't say that! I just said you looked good pregnant!'

'You said I had more meat on me! You think I'm too skinny normally don't you?'

Hermione sounded nearly hysterical, and they didn't need to see Rons face to guess he was at a loss and probably a little hysterical himself.

Ginny handed James to Harry and cautiously stepped inside.

'No! No you're not too skinny! And you're not fat either! You're perfect! Perfect, Hermione!'

'Don't lie to me, Ron! I know I'm a hideous whale!'

At this point it sounded as though Hermione had broken down into tears. Ginny disappeared around the corner, Harry caught the sounds of her apologising for interrupting, Ron stuttering incoherently in relief and Hermione sniffling as Ginny led her away to freshen up.

Harry couldn't help himself but burst into laughter as Ron came into the kitchen looking utterly bewildered and not dissimilar to the time Hermione set a flock of canaries on him.

'It's NOT funny.' Ron sat at the kitchen table, pale and shaken.

Harry managed to stop laughing long enough to sit down opposite him and shift a bewildered James onto his knee.

'Man, you told me Ginny was bad, but… man I never realised they could turn y'know… evil!'

Harry wiped a tear away as he reigned in his laughter and gave Ron a sympathetic look.

'I warned you, mate. I was afraid it might be worse this time, what with them both having one at the same time, but thankfully Ginny seems more sane this time around.'

'Oh really?'

Both males visibly winced. Harry looked up, giving a sheepish smile to Ginny who was stood in the doorway with a none-too-happy looking Hermione behind her.

There was a moment where no one spoke, Harry waiting to get yelled at, Ron looking like a rabbit in headlights.

But instead of blowing up and much to the males relief Ginny simply sighed, marched over to relieve Harry of James and informed them She and Hermione were going to have a nice relaxing stroll around the garden, whilst the boys cooked dinner.

Harry and Ron, pleasantly surprised not to have been berated agreed wholeheartedly that that was an excellent idea. Ron was also pleased to find that Hermione didn't ignore him or hit him when he planted a kiss on her cheek in apology for earlier.

As Harry and Ron started looking for what to make for dinner, they exchanged a glance. 'How long do you reckon it'll be before it's safe to say something without getting our heads bitten off?' Ron whispered conspiratorially.

Harry laughed. 'In my experience? Not until after the birth.'

Ron let out an exasperated sigh. The sound of James giggling floated in from the back garden.

Harry smiled gently. 'But it's worth it.' He added.

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A/N: As always thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and thanks even more for taking the time to review. More chapters on the way and don't worry to the people who made suggestions, your suggestions are going to get written it's just a case of which order to do them in. Shouldn't be such a gap until the next chapter, again, sorry for the delay and I hope you all enjoyed! Personally not my strongest Chapter I think, but I blame real life. P

Calirie. xx


	8. Chapter 8: Hero

A/N: Huge apologies for the lateness, explanation at the bottom, please enjoy! This is probably my favourite chapter so far.

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Carefully he sliced the ingredient he needed. It had to be a perfect thinness to be most effective. Holding the strip up to the light drifting in through the skylight, he smiled; perfect.

There had been a time when he could barely do the most basic potions. When, no matter how hard he had tried, he had always fumbled and failed in some way.

Nowadays, with all of the tools and ingredients, books and instructions, not to mention time and blissful silence on his side, he could master the most difficult potion with some level of skill. Of course he acknowledged the help he'd had from friends like Hermione in getting to this level of confidence, but after the war; after the long talks with friends and family about the future, after the interviews and funerals, trials and re-building, potions didn't seem such a challenge anymore.

His boggart had changed, too. He smiled to himself as he stirred the potion three times.

The sound of the greenhouse door opening and the chattering and laughter of students signalled it was time for his next class; it was the first Herbology lesson for the new first years. Setting the cauldron aside he left his office.

'Settle down! Everyone please stand around this table here, one to a pot, that's it.' He waved them into place and waited for the hubbub to die down.

'My name is Professor Longbottom, this is my third year teaching at Hogwarts, and I hope you can all come to enjoy Herbology as much as I do.'

Neville grinned at the students as they watched him. As he started to explain the day's introductory lesson, he tried to suppress the urge to keep grinning. He remembered his first lesson in this greenhouse.

He remembered well standing around the plants with his friends; he remembered the growing interested he'd gained for the subject. He remembered well how the students had used to look at Harry how they were looking at him now.

As the years at Hogwarts had passed and more younger students had arrived, he had noticed more how they had looked at Harry with awe, whispering to each other words like 'hero', 'famous' and 'great-wizard'. He had done the same in their first year. But then he came to know Harry; and Ron, Hermione and Ginny, and all of their friends. He had never stopped looking at Harry as a hero, but by their final years had stopped looking at himself as a 'nobody' in comparison. He had become a friend, an ally, almost an equal. Almost.

Now the new students looked at him and whispered. Now they tentatively raised their hands in lessons, or stopped him in hallways to ask 'did you really stand up to You-know-who?', 'Did you really kill his giant snake?'; 'Did you really summon the sword of Gryffindor?'

Neville chuckled lightly as a Hufflepuff girl shrieked. He made his way over to where her friends were trying to calm her down and detangled the vines which had grasped onto her ankle.

When she thanked him she looked at him with wide eyes, full of adoration and awe. He would never get used to it, he decided. But he wouldn't be ungrateful.

Every look, every whisper, every timid question was something more to him than he could ever express. It meant he had lived up to his fathers name and reminded the world of his brilliant mother.

It meant he had made his parents proud.

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A/N: This just popped into my head randomly, it wasn't even on my list, but I knew it just couldn't wait. I love Neville and writing this I almost made myself cry! Probably the most moving chapter so far in my opinion.

Huge apologies again for the long time between updates, especially after promises that regularity would resume. Returning to Uni coupled with unexpected and quite serious illness, completely messed up anything which even resembled organisation in my life. Hoepfully now things are settling down again I can get back to writing this with some sort of regularity, though probably not weekly updates given I will be writing this alongside essays and a dissertation.

Thanks as always to those who take the time to review, your requests are on the way I promise! In a chapter or two there may be a guest chapter from a friend of mine, not sure which theme yet though…

One last comment: The almighty JK herself has confirmed it! Dumbledore is Gay! Yay! I am so glad about this and have no idea why, perhaps because it's just another excellent layer added to her world of brilliance. XD (Google it if you don't believe me!)

Thanks again! xxx


	9. Chapter 9: Still Here

A/N: Hey all, I'm glad I could get another post out so soon. I had intended to post a much lighter one, especially about this character, however this plot bunny would not leave me alone so here it is! Hope you all enjoy!

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He locks the door and puts away his wand in the manner of one used to a routine. He always hated routines.

He walks briskly towards his first destination, stuffing his hands in his pockets and shaking himself back to awareness, unable to work up the motivation to perform a spell to keep out the cold.

He picks up his order in total silence, ignoring the sympathetic look he gets. As he leaves he closes the door harder than he intended, because he can picture that same look on all of their faces.

He shakes himself again, because he knows the look isn't just sympathetic, its understanding; and he doesn't want to think about that right now because it makes him feel guilty and he doesn't deserve that, he reasons.

He 'pops' into his final destination and walks more slowly this time. The cold doesn't matter; he actually likes it right now. Usually someone would be close to him, keeping him warm, and sometimes he's happy to have that but today it's just too much and it_ hurts_.

He stops because he knows they've been there. He knows they'll be upset he didn't go with them, but he'll go with them tomorrow, because he knows they'll come again just for him.

He waits. For a lifetime he stands there, not thinking, not remembering because it all hurts so _much_…

He laughs. Because he realises what a self-pitying git he's being, and his brother would be giving him the worst ribbing of his life for it right now.

He smiles. Because his brother is still making him laugh. Still reminding him that he's loved. Still fuelling his passion for what he wants to do in life. Because his brother is still _here_.

He finds his voice after a few more moments of silence when his laughter and his tears have stopped. '…love you, Fred.'

He drops the joke flowers he bought in front of the tombstone, he knows that anyone who tries to admire them will get squirted with stinking green liquid and allows himself to smile at that.

He walks away without looking back. Tomorrow he'll come again and reminisce, tonight he knows his brother is watching him. Probably laughing at the flowers and calling him a holy git, too.

His brother still makes him smile.

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A/N: Bit of a sad one again I know, but I've had this idea in my head for a while and it wanted to be written tonight! For anyone who couldn't guess (I can't imagine that anyone couldn't) it was George. I will post a much lighter, probably Weasleys Wizard Weezes related chapter about him soon.

As always love to my reviewers, and if anyone wants to see a certain person/plot drop me a line, if anyone who's made a request already thinks I'm not getting on with it fast enough just drop me a line and give me a cyber poke and I promise I'll try harder! XD


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